Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Note to self. Rope off putting green on firework night. This is damage from mosquito repellant applied while standing on turfgrass. Please apply while standing on a cartpath. We'll see if it grows out of the damage. If it doesn't, we'll plug it out with grass from the edge of other greens.

This is Alex. He is new to Lansing, but comes with an extensive amount of experience in Chicago and California. He has taken over cup cutting duties but does a variety of jobs including green and fairway mowing and flower bed maintenance. You may see also see him on the course during his lunch break. He carries an 8 handicap.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

We finally got rain on Saturday night. 1.1 inches brought the month total to 1.2. We also got a little rain on Friday. It gave us a break from hand watering. We are keeping up with watering of greens, tees and fairways, but as you can see the banks and rough are starting to go dormant. We are limiting cutting of the deep rough until we get more rain. The irrigation has been working well. I've pumped almost as much as the entire 2011season. The lake level is starting to go down. The next week should also be dry, but temps should be cooler.

This week, we are preparing for the fireworks on Saturday. Many vendors and members have donated money to make this possible. Thank You!

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Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to introduce you to my staff. Above is Juan. He works from mid March until Thanksgiving. He's been on the staff since 2008 and does a variety of jobs including greens, tees, fairways, rough, bunkers and hand watering.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

There's a chance of rain on Monday. We could use an inch over a 24 hour period. We've been irrigating nightly. We get our water from the spring fed lake. I'm sure a lot of course are having a hard time keeping up. ﻿

We've developed some isolated dry spots on fairways #4 and #5. We are using wetting agents and watering heavily to help the problem.

Scott was able to use his stump grinder last week on the willow stump on #8. We will finish cleaning and then add soil and seed. A replacement tree will be added in the fall.

Friday, June 1, 2012

We finished up planting all of the annuals this week. Steve Mayerak delivered all flowers while the grounds staff planted them. Alex, a new member of the staff, was busy keeping flowers and new trees watered. The .65 inches of rain on Thursday was perfect. It soaked in nicely. The logo bed at #2 is nearly complete as we ran a couple of stones short on the border.

This is a green ash. As you can see, the emerald ash borer has arrived. We removed a couple last year, but it's taking out several more this year. With the help of Guy Lipack, we have started planted a variety of new trees. I'm also looking into the cost and effectiveness of insecticides, but since only a couple of our ashes are in key locations removal is probably the best option..

Jose spent a couple of days cleaning up the ditch line work. He stock piled the spoils that will be moved to another location when we have access to a dump truck.

On another note, we had our 4000th view of the blog today. Besides Lansing CC members, I've had hits from Russia, France and many other countries. I follow many other blogs to see what the other superintendents are doing and getting ideas to make the blog better.

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About Me

Golf Course Superintendent at Lansing Country Club since 2008. Previously I worked at Joe Louis Golf Course, George Dunne National Golf Course, Cress Creek Country Club, Bryn Mawr Country Club, Minnesota Valley Country Club and Interlachen Country Club.